(The Center Square) – While $2.3 billion in federal COVID-19 relief funds were spent by Wisconsin K-12 schools, test results have shown that students still have not recovered from the learning loss.
Wisconsin Policy Forum’s analysis said the funds provided a one-time boost to school budgets but that the funding was uneven based upon factors within the relief aid. The funding also came with a freeze on school revenue limits for the 2021-23 budget.
“While federal pandemic relief funds provided temporary support to districts across Wisconsin, their ultimate impact on student recovery and on schools themselves appears mixed,” the analysis says. “Some districts have seen notable improvements in student outcomes, proving that progress is possible. However, overall statewide test scores, chronic absenteeism, and other key metrics have not returned to pre-pandemic levels.”
The analysis comes as state leaders continue negotiations on the next state budget as the fiscal year ends.
Wisconsin student scores in math remain one-third of a grade below 2019 testing levels while reading results are a half grade behind.
Overall, Wisconsin school districts received $46.6 million in Governor’s Emergency Education Relief funds, $158.5 million in Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds, $685.4 million in ESSER II funds and $1.43 billion in ESSER III funds.
On average, that meant receiving $2,841 per pupil across all ESSER and GEER I funds with the median amount was $1,784 per pupil. Milwaukee Public Schools received 34.4% of the overall federal recovery funding in Wisconsin at $11,923 per pupil.
The districts were required to spend at least 20% of the funding on directly addressing student academic achievement through interventions.
“Districts then faced a dilemma: their ongoing operating funds were tightly constrained at a time when some of them were receiving large amounts of temporary federal funds,” the analysis concluded. “They could use the one-time aid to sustain their ongoing operations despite the freeze on their core state and local funding. However, doing so would mean a fiscal cliff taking effect in the current 2024-25 school year.”
New programs could begin, but the funding was temporary.
“Many of those efforts also required additional staffing, but hiring can be complicated in the case of temporary positions and was also more difficult in the midst of the pandemic,” the analysis said.
